The shoulders of Downing Musgrove Causeway are overgrown with vegetation, and the Jekyll Island Authority is planning to do something about it.

Landscape crews with the Jekyll Island Authority will begin work this week to clear overgrown plants and trees from the two-lane causeway, which connects the state park to U.S. 17, said Eric Garvey, chief marketing director for the authority.

Some foliage and trees along the roadway have become so overgrown that it is dangerous to the life cycles of the plants, Garvey said.

He noted that trees like wax myrtles are actually so overgrown that they are falling over one another.

For several years, the authority has worked to secure proper permits from the state Department of Natural Resources and Georgia Department of Transportation to clear off the overgrown sections of the causeway as a component of the Jekyll Causeway Vegetation Management Plan and Jekyll Island Conservation Plan.

With the final documentation secured and permission granted, the authority can now begin work.

The task will entail clearing some 2.5 miles of selected vista along both sides of the causeway.

The authority has also secured permits to clean up dead or fallen debris in areas outside the defined selective clearing areas.